Healthy Schools Pennsylvania
Program Overview
Everyone has a role to play in creating healthy, safe and sustainable learning environments for children. Each one of us can make an impact on schools where thousands of children, faculty and staff spend over 1,000 hours every year. Women for a Healthy Environment’s Healthy Schools PA program is designed to empower parents, students, educators, staff and administrators to take an active role in creating healthy school environments, providing tools, guides and other resources to bridge communities with their schools and effectively create an advocacy network capable of bringing about social and policy change throughout the school system.
Close to 2 million students are currently enrolled in public schools in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. In addition to students, thousands of teachers and staff members spend about 9,000 hours a year in school buildings and on school grounds. There, they are exposed to environmental hazards including, but not limited to poor air quality, toxic building materials and pesticides. These health risks are discussed far too infrequently. Healthy Schools PA works to increase awareness of environmental health factors in school systems while supporting policies directly correlating to improved health outcomes and academic performance by engaging the school community.
- Serving as a central voice and hub for information across the region by engaging students, parents, community leaders and school district personnel.
- Increasing awareness in the school systems about environmental health factors.
- Providing samples of policies that directly correlate to improved health outcomes and academic performance.
- Developing a platform that connects organizations such as Parent-Teacher Associations, state agencies and non-government organizations to encourage collaboration.
While we realize making our schools healthier is its own reward, we also know it’s important to recognize and celebrate all schools and school districts who take positive actions toward improving the well-being of students and teachers. That’s why we created the annual Healthy School Recognition Program. Click for a list of Healthy Schools.
The Healthy Schools Summit, held annually, brings together school stakeholders for an enriching and engaging co-learning opportunity to hear from industry experts, share lessons and community knowledge, collaborate on school health initiatives and take an active role in promoting green and healthy learning environments.